Bottle-closure



No. 750,220. PATENTEDJAN. 19, 1904-.

V F. REGHT.

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

Invent or, Frederick Bach/f, I

17 fmwaflm J Amiig Patented January 19, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK REOHT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO REX CAP & OORK COMPANY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AOORPORATIONOF NEW YORK.

BOTTLE-CLOSURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 750,220, dated January19, 1904.

Original application filed January 27, 1902, Serial No. 91,434. No.131,466.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK REoHT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of NewYork, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain newand .useful Improvements in Bottle-Closures, of

which the following is a specification.

. This invention is especially applicable to those forms ofbottle-closure in which a flanged metal cap covers the mouth of thebottle and is locked to the bottle-neck, the locking being, for example,by indentations in the flange which engage under the lip of the bottleor by means of an intermediate lockingwire which engages matchinggrooves in the flange and bottle-neck, as is shown in,my ,United StatesLetters Patent No. 646,627, dated April 3, 1900. In order tohermetically seal the bottle with such a cap, it is necessary that asubstance of a compressible character for packing should be interposedbetween the rim of the bottle-mouth and the cap, and cork has proved tobe the most satisfactory material. It is ordinarily used in the form ofthin disks cut from cork slabs of the requisite thickness. There is anobvious waste between the disks in cutting, and the central portions ofthe disk serve no useful purpose in the bottle-cap. The purpose of myinvention is to avoid this waste by the substitution for the usualpacking-disk of a discontinuous cork ring formed from a cork strip. Inbending and coiling the cork strip advantage is taken of thecompressibility of cork to superimpose' on the bending strains, whichwould other- I wise be both of compression and tension, ad-

ditonal compression strains by compressing the strips endwise that willsubstantially neutralize the tensile'strains.

In further explanation of my bottle-closure reference will be made tothe accompanying sheet of drawings, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure 1 shows a cork strip from which I form the packing-ring for thebottle-closure. Fig. 2 shows a discontinuous cork packingring formedfrom the cork strip. Fig. 3

Divided and this application filed Novembel 15, 1902. Serial (No model.)

lower sides of the packing-ring, and edge walls 5 5 j 0 c, which formthe outer and inner edges of the ring. In cutting the strips the cutsfor the side walls are made transverse to the pores, so that the ends ofthe pores will terminate in the side walls. In the coiled ring they aretherefore transverse to the plane of the ring, and the ends of the pores(Z are covered by the top of the cap 6 and the rim of the bottle f. Thedirection of the pores transverse to the plane of the ring is ofmanifest advantage, for example, over a radial direction. If the poreswere radial, the inner ends of the pores would be exposed to theinterior of the bottle and the outer ends, while covered by the flangeof the cap, would be imperfectly 7o closed thereby, since there islittle or no pres sure between the flange and the packing-ring, and thepacking-ring would leak. There is considerable pressure, however,between the top of the cap and the ring and between the 7 5 ring and theend of the bottle-mouth. This effectually closes both ends of all of thepores. The flange of the cap is provided with a groove which comesopposite a groove in the bottleneck, and a wire w encircles thebottle-neck between the bottle-neck and the flange, thereby engaging thematching groove and securing the cap to the bottle. In order toeconomize material, the ring is made as thin as it can be andeffectively pack the joint between the cap and bottle and compensate forirregularities in the opposing surfaces of the cap and bottle, betweenwhich the packing is interposed. Likewise the width of the side walls ofthe strip from which the ring is formed is for economy of material madeno greater than is necessary for a tight joint between the packing-ringand the bottle and between the packing-ring and the cap. Theseconditions are met in a ring the thickness of which is less than thewidth of the ring and the width of the strip from which the ring isformed. In coiling the ring from the cork strip the strip is thereforecoiled edgewise.

Ordinarily when a bar or strip is bent or coiled by forces appliedtransversely to the strip that portion of the strip between the convexedge and a medial line 6 midway between the convex and concave edgeswill be stretched and under tension and that portion between themedial'line and the concave edge will be shortened and undercompression. Consequently under such treatment the length of the medialline will be unchanged by the coiling; but when the cork strip issubjected to endwise pressure and coiled that portion of the strip atthe medial line and between the medial line and the convex edge iscompressed and shortened to a considerable extent. There is therefore anendwise compression of substantially all parts of the strip, and this islikewise transverse to the pores of the cork and tends to close thepores. It is immaterial whether the compression and bending issimultaneous or not; but since the principle object, however, insubjecting the strip to compression is to prevent tensile strains in thestrip that will be liable to rupture the strip it is important that thebending should not precede the compression.

If the cork is wet when it is compressed and bent and is dried while itis maintained in its compressed form and the external pressure isremoved after it has dried, it will take a set and remain substantiallyin the form imparted to it by the external pressure.

In producing the packing-rings no particular form of apparatus isnecessary, and a bottle-closure can be produced from a suitablycut corkstrip by coiling the cork strip by hand directly into the cap andexerting an endwise pressure on the strip while it is being coiled. Ifwhile exerting the endwise pressure serrated tools are brought to bearagainst the ends of the strip, the ends will be indented, therebyforming serrations s, so that the ends will form a better joint whenbrought together. in carrying out the invention I preferably fol low themethod and use the apparatus set forth in my application, Serial No.91,434, filed January 27, 1902, of which this application is a division;but I do not confine myself in this application to a structure producedby following the precise method therein set forth or by the use of themechanism therein illustrated or any substitute therefor other than thehands.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is

l. A cork strip forming a discontinuous ring the length of which alongits media] line is less than the length of the strip from which it isformed.

2. A packing-ring for a bottle-closure con 1 sisting of a discontinuouscork ring in which the pores are transverse to the plane of the ring.

3. A packing-ring for a bottle-closure consisting of a cork stripforming a discontinuous ring in which the pores are transverse to theplane of the ring and the length along the medial line of the ring isless than the length of the strip from which the ring is formed.

A. A bottle-closure consisting of a bottlecap and a cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring contained within the cap in which the length of themedial line of the ring is less than the length of the strip from whichthe ring is formed.

5. A bottle-closure consisting of a bottlecap and a discontinuous corkring in which the pores are transverse to the plane of the ring.

6. A bottleclosure consisting of a bottlecap and a cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring in which the pores are transverse to the plane of thering and the length along the medial line of the ring is less than thelength of the strip from which the ring is formed.

7. The combination with a bottle of a cap for the mouth thereof, meansfor securing the cap to the bottle, and a cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring interposed between the cap and the bottle in whichthelength of the medial line of the ring is less than the length of thestrip from which the ring is formed.

8. The combination with a bottle of a cap for the mouth thereof, meansfor securing the cap to the bottle, and a flat cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring interposed between the cap and the bottle in whichthe pores are transverse to the plane of the ring and the thickness ofthe ring is less than the width of the strip from which the ring isformed.

9. The combination with a bottle of a cap for the mouth thereof, meansfor securing the cap to the bottle, and a Hat cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring interposed between the cap and the bottle in whichthe length of the medial line of the ring is less than the length of thestrip from which the ring is formed, and the thickness of the ring isless than the width of the strip from which the ring is formed.

10. The combination with a bottle of a cap for the mouth thereof, meansfor securing the cap to the bottle, and a cork strip forming adiscontinuous ring interposed between the cap and bottle in which thepores are transverse to the plane of the ring and the length along themedial line of the ring is less than the length of the strip from whichthe ring is formed.

Signed by me in New York city this 14th day of November, 1902.

FREDERICK REG/Hill.

\Vitnesses:

SAMUEL XV. BALcn, THOMAS EWING, Jr.

